Xanthium strumarium is a species of annual plants belonging to the Asteraceae family. It probably originates in North America and has been extensively naturalized elsewhere. WikipediaScientific name: Xanthium strumariumRank: SpeciesHigher classification: CockleburThe species is monoecious, with the flowers borne in separate unisexual heads: staminate (male) heads situated above the pistillate (female) heads in the inflorescence.[4] The pistillate heads consist of two pistillate flowers surrounded by a spiny [involucre]. Upon fruiting, these two flowers ripen into two brown to black achenes and they are completely enveloped by the involucre, which becomes a [bur]. The bur, being buoyant, easily disperses in the water for plants growing along waterways. However, the bur, with its hooked projections, is obviously adapted to dispersal via mammals by becoming entangled in their hair. Once dispersed and deposited on the ground, typically one of the seeds germinates a…